3. Let it quicken us to perseverance in our duty, notwithstanding sufferings, till all be ended ; that, when we come to die, we may be able to say, John xvii. 4, ' I have glorified thee on earth ; I have finished the work thou gavest me to do ;' 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8, ' I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faitli. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.^ If Christ out of love to us would finish the work of our redemption, 'What shall separate us from the love of Christ? ' Eom. viii. 39.
4. It teacheth us how to comfort ourselves in death. It finisheth all our labours and sorrows, as Christ showeth when he was about to give up the ghost : Isa. Ivii. 2, ' He shall enter into peace ; they shall rest in their beds.' Believers have a joy set before them as well as Christ, The wicked cannot say, ' It is finished ; ' their evils are then begun,
5. Let us believe things to come. The event showeth that all those things were true which the prophets had so long before foretold. The Holy Ghost cannot be deceived, nor can God lie. We are certain that things yet to come shall be fulfilled as well as these which are past. Those who lived before Christ's time had not such an experiment of God's truth as we have. We have seen the coming of Christ ; let us so fix our minds on future things, as to draw them off from earthly.
He homed his head, and gave up the ghost. — I come to the latter part of the text. Some read it that first he died, and then bowed the head, there being no spirit left to support it ; but Christ first bowed the head, and then died ; he did as it were beckon to death to come and do its office : ' He yielded up the ghost ; ' his soul was truly
44 SERMON UPON JOHN XIX. 30.
separated from his body. The form of resignation we have, Luke xxiii, 46, ' Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.' Wicked men, because they die against their wills, their souls are said to be taken away : Luke xii. 20, ' Thou fool ! this night thy soul shall be required of thee ; ' Job xxvii. 8, ' For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though lie liath gained, when God taketh away his soul ? ' But Christ yieldeth it up ; and for a godly man to give up the ghost noteth his iaith, submission, and willingness to depart out of the body. As the prophet saith of Christ, Isa. liii. 12, ' He hath poured out his soul unto death.' Death did not surprise him.
Doct. When all things were finished, Christ freely and willingly gave up the ghost.
His life was not taken away, but resigned ; there was much of violence, but no coaction. The term, giving up the ghost, doth not imply the bare death of Christ, but that he died willingly and freely. Nihil m hoc Chynsto est, 7iisi 'profusa liberalitas misericorcUce, et re- missionis peccatorum — I can see nothing in this Christ but a prodi- gality of love and mercy. He had freely emptied his veins in the garden ; every pore became an eye, and wept blood for your sakes ; and now he cometh to pour out his soul.
Reasons why Christ was so willing to die.
1. Out of obedience to his Father. The divine decrees had laid a necessity upon him, and where the Father saith, Must, Christ saith, I will : Mat. xxvi. 54, 55, ' Thinkest thou not that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ? ' (which was the just number of a Eoman army); ' But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be ? ' Christ willingly took this necessity upon him ; it was but necessitas ex hypothesi. Had it not been for his eternal consent it would never have been said, ' Thus it must be ; ' Luke xxii. 37, ' This that is written must be accomplished ; ' Luke xxiv. 46, ' Thus it is written, and thus it behov- eth Christ to suffer.' It was a necessity of his own making ; he was not compelled to accept of the conditions from God, nor forced by the violence of man to yield up his life : John x, 18, ' No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself ; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of my Father.'
2. Out of love to us. The Jews crucified him, but love made him die ; we had else perished for ever. The law laid it upon us, but love made Christ take it upon himself : Isa. liii. 4, ' Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.' Justice demanded it of us, but Christ said, I will be responsible ; exact it of me : Mat. xx. 28, ' Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.' He took life to lay it down at the demand of justice. Justice said, I must have a ransom ; Christ said, Take it of me ; let these go: Job xxxiii. 24, ' Tiien he is gracious unto them, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit ; I have found a ransom.' The Father received it, and Christ paid it ; as the angel said to Abraham, Gen. xxii. 12, ' Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him.' Justice would have reached forth a deadly stroke to us, but Christ catched the blow.